November 26, 1998

Who owns listing to your home?

By TOM KELLY
The Real Estate Advisor

Who owns the listing to your house when you put it on the market?

Does the seller own it and give publishing rights to the listing broker and the multiple listing service? Then, if it goes to a major Internet site, what own-ership interest does the site assume?

These and other real estate legal issues will discussed by Bellevue attorney Russ Cofano and others at Real Estate Connect, an international workshop scheduled December 3-5 in San Francisco.

The conference will feature 90 of the world's top housing, legal and technology experts including several from the Puget Sound area. Opinions on the future of the basic real estate deal -- and the variety of tools soon to be available to present that deal -- will be discussed and presented.

Cofano, who operates the Washington Associated of Realtors' Legal Assistance Hotline where brokers and agents have immediate access to attorneys heavily involved in real estate issues, will be joined in the City by the Bay by Lennox Scott, chief executive officer of John L. Scott Real Estate and Scott Smith and Ian Morris of Microsoft's HomeAdvisor.

Cofano's topic "Legal Trends That Will Enable and Disable Realty E-commerce" will be the center of the weekend summit that also features keynoters Ellen Siminoff, Senior Vice President of Yahoo!; Robert Davis, president and CEO of Lycos, and Ed Yardeni, chief economist of Deutsche Bank Securities, an expert in year 2000 challenges, commonly known as Y2K.

One of the event's organizers is Kevin Hawkins, the former Great Western Bank official who now is vice president of TNLG, Inc. a Bainbridge-Island based firm that provides journalists, Realtors and other housing professionals with consumer-based marketing tools. Hawkins, who also worked for Fannie Mae in the national's capitol and then opened Seattle's Fannie Mae Partnership Office, said the conference has drawn the attention of industry leaders.

"We have been getting deluged by companies who simply want to come and see what their competitors are offering," Hawkins said. "The way real estate is handled is moving so fast that companies cannot afford to be in the dark."

According to Bradley Inman, a pioneer in real estate news on the Internet who is hosting his third Real Estate Connect, the entire United States real estate business model is being turned upside and inside out.

"We're not talking about small modifications, tweaks or new improvements," Inman said. "What is happening today -- as real estate goes digital -- will make what 1-800-Flowers and Dell Computers have done with consumer direct purchasing seem like Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee."

Lennox Scott, who heads the first major Northwest firm to reach agreements with HomeAdvisor and Realtor.com (the National Association of Realtors' website) to publish listings, will be part of a panel on "How Real Estate Companies are Being Transformed for E-Commerce."

"Our philosophy is getting the needs of the consumer met instantly," Scott said. "If it's not instant, it's not fast enough."

One of Scott's latest Internet marketing tools is a 360-degree virtual home tour which allows homebuyers to "virtually" walk through homes for sale in the comfort of the family den. Cost to the agent is $20 for the first 360-degree view and $10 for each subsequent image, making the technology a viable marketing vehicle for creative agents seeking another marketing wrinkle.

Scott will explain to conference attendees his company's "Instant Internet" where agents can add homes for sale -- text and photo --to the company's site for same day viewing.

Another feature is Scott's "Home Delivery" where homebuyers are notified via e-mail when properties matching their specific search criteria become available.

Inman says the key to this revolution is partnerships made between high technology firms and real estate companies.

"It's about waking up the nerds to the realities of what it takes to deliver real estate services as well as pressing the real estate Neanderthals to transform their businesses into a digital operation," Inman said.

Is there another industry changing faster?

Previous columns:

• Tuccillo sees 1999 as great for housing, 11-20-1998
• Realtors' web site is on a roll, 11-13-1998
• Wake-up call for borrowers, 11-06-1998
• Some folks fall through cracks in refinancing, 10-23-1998
• An update for real estate's 'Bible', 10-16-1998
• A look at why we move, 10-09-1998
• Thinking again about refinancing?, 10-02-1998
• Rates are low: It's time to act, 09-18-1998